But the winds of fiscal austerity surging through the Defense Department, as well as new spending priorities, have led to plans to shut down many of the military's best-known music and entertainment programs.
On Friday, Tops In Blue, the Air Force's renowned traveling entertainment show consisting of active duty airmen, played its last show at Mascoutah High School.
After that, it goes on indefinite hiatus while the Air Force evaluates whether the performance troupe of musicians, vocalists, dancers and other entertainers is worth an annual cost of between $3 million and $10 million, depending on how one calculates performer salaries, food, lodging, transportation costs and other support costs.
No cutbacks have been planned for The Band of Mid-America, based at Scott Air Force Base, according to a spokesman for the Air Mobility Command, which sponsors the ensemble.
However, the Army announced last week that the Army Soldier Show, its counterpart to Tops In Blue, would be canceled immediately. No explanation was given for the termination of the Broadway-styled show that had played to large crowds around the world since 1983. The cancellation notice occurred just a month after dozens of active-duty, reserve and national guard personnel journeyed to Joint Base San Antonio to try out for the show during auditions Dec. 18.